Mary Lou Dauray is an award-winning artist who lives in Sausalito, California. She believes that art has the power to influence action and thought and is dedicated to raising awareness about climate destruction and global warming.
Dauray is also the only contemporary artist who has been devoted to creating a series of paintings about the mining, burning and transportation of coal. Her drawings and paintings depict this topic of man-made environmental destruction. “I will continue to express my concerns over the damage wrought by the burning and transporting of coal.”
Her exhibitions throughout the United States include those at the Virginia Museum, and her work is in numerous public collections including the Sophie Davis Medical School, City College of New York, and many private collections.
She explains, “My deep concern about this issue began with a train ride through Poland in 2009. I viewed a carbon black lake surrounded by rings of dead black trees. I knew without a doubt that this situation was caused by pollution from the burning of coal and I became sick to my stomach. In addition, I have counted open, uncovered coal cars traversing miles and miles of pristine waters in Idaho.”
Air Pollution Linked to Cognitive Decline
Mary Lou Dauray points us to a disturbing article posted by the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology titled “Air Pollution Linked to Cognitive Decline in Older Adults”. In this article Jennifer Ailshire, Assistant Professor at the USC Davis School of Gerontology, and fellow researcher Philippa Clarke, who co-wrote the report remarked: “Living in cities with high pollution has long been attributed to decline in physical health as we age.” They have reason to believe that the tiny particles in vehicle exhaust and other sources of air pollution may hasten cognitive decline.
In the article Ailshire stated, “the public should understand that there are health risks to living in polluted environments, particularly for older adults”.
Dauray admits, “The subject matter can get depressing, especially when one realizes that almost all the U.S. coal transported and exported to Asia goes to the greatest polluters: China, Japan, India and South Korea.”
She hopes that her eco-art will continue to alert more people about the terrible dangers in the continued use of coal. “I want to encourage others to use their voices to show concern about environmental plundering and encourage the development of alternative energy sources in order to rid our dependence on dirty and unhealthy coal.”
Visit Mary Lou Dauray’s website at maryloudauray.com
Mary Lou Dauray’s art is greatly inspirational. As a fellow artist deeply concerned about the extreme destruction of the rainforest due to deforestation occurring at a rapid rate, the melting of the polar ice caps, air pollution due to the burning of coal we have to question the current and future sustainability of our planet. Governments around the world need to work together on these dire issues that could destroy all life on the planet. The lives of our children and grandchildren are hanging on the precipice .Humanity needs to take decisive action now .